SANDAG Board adopts 35-year regional transportation plan

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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San Diego Forward The Regional Plan

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) Board of Directors voted unanimously on October 9, 2015, to adopt the final version of San Diego Forward: The Regional Plan, a sweeping blueprint for the future that will invest $204 billion into transportation infrastructure projects over the next 35 years.

 

San Diego Forward lays out a strategic vision to address the region’s current and future transportation needs, including specific plans to help realize that vision by investing in transit projects, bikeways, pedestrian improvements and a Managed Lanes network between now and 2050.

The plan seeks to strike a balance, helping to guide future growth in a way that preserves mobility in the region and supports jobs and the economy, while creating healthy communities, preserving half the region as open space and exceeding the greenhouse gas reduction targets set for our region by the California Air Resources Board.

“This plan relies on adding layers of transportation choice,” said SANDAG Chair and Santee Councilmember Jack Dale. “By growing within our existing communities – then connecting those communities with not just freeways, but with carpool lanes, transit services, bikeways and safe walking routes – we can achieve all of our goals.”

By 2050, the region’s population is expected to grow by one million people and will add half a million jobs and 300,000 more homes. In anticipation, city and county land use plans have changed to focus most forecasted growth in already existing communities. The Regional Plan responds to those new land use patterns, overlaying more transportation choices to connect communities with different modes of travel.

The plan looks far into the future, projecting what funds will be available during a 35-year period and what can be done with those funds to improve the region’s transportation system. The plan is updated every four years.

Overall, the Plan approved today commits more than 50 percent of its $204-billion investment to transit, including five new trolley lines, 32 new rapid lines and significant increases in transit frequencies; ensures that in the next five years, 75 percent of all transportation funds will be invested in transit and active transportation, including the Mid-Coast Trolley extension, the Mid-City Centerline Rapid Stations project, the South Bay Rapid project and the continued double-tracking of the coastal rail corridor.

 

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